We’ll all float on, anyway

Dear readers,

A storm is brewing outside. It apparently decided to pay Ohio a visit from Oklahoma! Lighting is flashing every minute or so, followed by a loud clap of thunder, and the steady drum of the rain on the window as I type this out. Truly, “it was a dark and stormy night…”. Metaphorically, my life is somewhat stormy right now, too. I realize that I continue to mention the massive amount of work I have this semester…but I just can’t get over it, it’s so much!

Besides schoolwork, I recently had to let someone down who was interested in a relationship. Although quite flattered, after a few times going out I was much more of the “suited to being friends” feeling with him. If you’ve never had to do this, let me assure you that it is not very fun. Watching someone’s face literally crumple, and worse, knowing it’s because of you, is horrible (perhaps I should have prepared better and had chocolate on hand? Or a lolcat…). While of course it would be cruel not to tell them and lead them on, there is really no way not to hurt them. While I felt bad, I also hope that I wasn’t too soft and given him too much hope. I’m no good at this kind of thing, really. I only hope we can still be friends and not be weird about it, and that one day we both find that right person.

Love and feelings. A rather nice summation, I think.

But enough with the dark clouds! Though it doesn’t appear as such so far, I’m actually here to bring a little lightness to the night with a delicious scone recipe I snagged from the lovely Sweet Pea’s Kitchen (http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2012/02/strawberries-n-cream-scones/). I’ve made them twice now – once for the Diamond Jubilee weekend (which I will be posting about!) and then again about a month ago. Both times they were a hit!

The first time I made these strawberries and cream scones was back in England for the Diamond Jubilee!

Basically, preheat the oven to 425 degrees and start throwing the first four ingredients into a food processor (blender works, too). Process with about 6 single second pulses. Add the butter and the lemon zest and repeat the one second pulses 12 more times.

Move this mixture into a bowl and carefully mix in the diced strawberries. Before the next step, sprinkle some flour over a flat surface to work with the dough.

Finished with that? Ok, add the heavy cream and mix together to form the dough with your hands – a warning, your hands will get somewhat sticky and messy (but press on, for it’s quite worth it!). Knead the dough into a ball and divide in half.

Take one half and move to the previously floured flat surface. Work it into a flatter circle about a 1/2 inch to an inch thick. Spread all of the jam on top of this half.

Take the other half and create roughly the same size and shape as the first. Then, flip it on top of the half with the jam spread on it. Smooth the sides over as best you can so that it looks like one piece of dough. Don’t worry too much about overflowing jam or strawberries poking out, it will taste great all the same!

You may want to leave a bit more of a border between the jam and the edge than I did this go around…(I doubled the recipe here)

Cut the circular shaped dough in half and then into separate triangular wedges. Place the wedges onto a baking sheet (it calls for ungreased, though I’ve done it both ways) and bake for 12-15 minutes. Plan for a shorter rather than longer time, depending on the individual sizes; really just keep an eye on them.

Now on to the glaze! Combine the confectioners sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and mix together until it becomes gooey. When the scones have come out of the oven and cooled, drizzle the icing mixture over the scones with a spoon. Then, dig in! Perhaps enjoy with a cup of tea and certainly share these incredible scones with friends and family (and then get ready for some well-deserved love and praise)!

They’re done – go on, take a bite!

Ok, well that’s going to be it from me tonight. I’m off to bed for a hopefully full night’s rest unlike the previous two nights. While there will always be storm clouds that breeze into our life, it is as has been said many times before; the clouds only make the times of sunshine that much brighter. So enjoy your sunshine if you are having that sort of weather today! And if it’s rainy, well hey, who doesn’t enjoy a good thunderstorm every now and then?

And happy baking! Should you decide to try your hand at these strawberries and cream scones, I hope you enjoy them as much as myself and my family and friends have. Thanks for reading, cheers! Until then…

Responses

Yummy ! That looks sooo good! I’m so proud of you for learning how to bake and taking such an interest in cooking. So much like your Mom!
Now, to the letting go part with the dude, it sounds as if you did it gently and just right. Not an easy thing …..mind you, but , in the long run, you JUST know if it’s a match or not…and you did! That’s what is important ! You listened to your gut, and for the future that is what life is about when looking for the right one ! Its just that feeling and you’ll know it when you feel it! Ok, enough of this….love and miss you tons. Over and out! :)

Thanks, you’re so right about that gut feeling, too! I guess it’s just going to be a matter of time until finding him, and until then I’ll continue baking, writing, traveling…doing things I love and want in life! Hope to see you soon :)

Brookenado, Your blogs make me so hungry that I find everythig sweet in the house and just pig out. Of course store bought cookies just don’t taste as good as what you present.

As for that boyfriend, you did just right and prevented a much larger hurt down the road. I remenmber in the 3rd grade a group of us lied about something. The teacher caught us immediately (much smarter than we thought). Our punishment was to memorize a passage from Shakespear (don’t know trhe exact origin) that went as follows:

This above all to thyne own self be true. And, it must follow as the night the day. Thow thenst cannot be false to any man.

Putting it all together, one could say that the moral of your blog might be:
“Unless you really, really like the guy, don’t share any of your strawberry and cream scones with him or he may never want to move on down the road.”